Compilers: PHUONG HOANG YEN, Ph.

D
HUYNH CHI MINH HUYEN, M.A - NGO MI LE ANH, M.A
HUYNH MINH HIEN, M.A

COURSEBOOK
INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH GRAMMAR
(GIÁO TRÌNH NGỮ PHÁP TRUNG CẤP)
MSHP: FL101H

NHÀ XUẤT BẢN ĐẠI HỌC CẦN THƠ

2021
CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA BY
LEARNING RESOURCE CENTER OF CAN THO UNIVERSITY
Phuong, Hoang Yen
Coursebook intermediate English grammar = Giáo trình ngữ pháp trung cấp / Phuong Hoang Yen, Huynh
Chi Minh Huyen, Ngo Mi Le Anh, Huynh Minh Hien.– Can Tho : Can Tho University, 2021
296 p. : ill. ; 28 cm
Includes bibliographical references
ISBN: 9786049654534
1. English language--Grammar 2. Ngữ pháp tiếng Anh
I. Nhan đề. II. Huynh, Chi Minh Huyen. III. Ngo, Mi Le Anh. IV. Huynh, Minh Hien
425 – DDC 23 MFN 241388
Y603
 PREFACE

Intermediate English Grammar is the first one of the two grammar courses that students
of the High Quality English Studies Program take in the first year. The course focuses on
different English parts of speech, basic sentence patterns and kinds of sentences according to
functions.

The current grammar coursebook includes three chapters. Each chapter is organized as
the following: Getting Started, Grammar Knowledge, Grammar Exercises and Fun with
Grammar. Chapter one has eight subsections presenting eight different parts of speech in
English. Chapter two introduces phrases according to structures and functions. Chapter three
presents kinds of sentences in English. Using this book, students have opportunities to learn the
English grammar knowledge listed in the syllabus, practice different exercises compiled from
different grammar books and other resources, and use their grammar knowledge in daily
communications.

The book can be used as a coursebook for the Intermediate Grammar course (FL101H) at
the School of Foreign Languages, Can Tho University or a reference book for those who wish
to review or enlarge their English grammar knowledge.

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) i

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE................................................................................................................. i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... iii
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... iv
CHAPTER 1: PARTS OF SPEECH ....................................................................... 1
Unit 1: Nouns ................................................................................... 1
Unit 2: Pronouns ............................................................................ 16
Unit 3: Verbs .................................................................................. 38
Unit 4: Adjectives .......................................................................... 88
Unit 5: Adverbs ............................................................................ 114
Unit 6: Prepositions...................................................................... 137
Unit 7: Conjunctions .................................................................... 169
Unit 8: Interjections ..................................................................... 195
CHAPTER 2: PHRASES .................................................................................... 200
Unit 1: Phrases according to Structures ....................................... 202
Unit 2: Phrases according to Functions ....................................... 220
CHAPTER 3: SENTENCES ............................................................................... 239
Unit 1: Basic English Sentences .................................................. 239
Unit 2: Sentences Based on Functions ......................................... 249
APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 259
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 286
BOARD GAME SOURCES ............................................................................... 289

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) iii

 ABBREVIATIONS

n noun
v verb
inf. infinitive
pron. pronoun
adj adjective
adv adverb
conj. conjunction
prep. preposition
VL Linking verb
Vi Intransitive verb
Vt Transitive verb
Vo Verb in infinitive form
Ved/3 Verb in past participle form
S subject
O Object
D.O Direct Object
I.O Indirect Object
S.C Subjective Complement
O.C Objective Complement
Br. British
A. American
sth something
s.o someone

iv Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H)

 CHAPTER 1: PARTS OF SPEECH

Unit 1: Nouns

OBJECTIVES: By the end of this unit, you will be able to

• identify English nouns, countable and uncountable nouns, the plural forms of
nouns, and possessive cases, and functions of nouns; and
• use them correctly in sentences.

GETTING STARTED
Work in groups of four. Discuss the following questions.
1. What is a noun?

2. What is/are the difference(s) between countable and uncountable nouns?

3. How are the plurals of English nouns formed?

4. What are the possessive cases of nouns?

5. What are the functions of nouns in English?

GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE

I. Definition of nouns

A noun is the name of a person, a thing, an animal, a place, an action, a quality or a state
of being.

Examples: teacher (person), book (thing), cat (animal), mountain (place), arrival (action),
loyalty (quality), beauty (state), trip (action)...

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) 1

Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

II. Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

Countable nouns are the names of separate Uncountable nouns are the names of things
objects, people, etc. which we can count; which we do not see as separate, and which
they have singular and plural forms. we cannot count; they do not have plural
forms.
One book, two books
A man, some men Milk, rice, weather

Countable nouns can take singular or plural Uncountable nouns always take singular
verbs. verbs.
- This book is expensive. - Milk is good for you.
- These books are expensive. - The weather was very good yesterday.
- That man lives next door.
- Those men live next door.

Before countable nouns, we can use a/an and We do not normally use a/an or a number
numbers. directly before uncountable nouns.
A man, one book, two books A weather, two weathers
We use a before consonant sounds: a book, a But we sometimes use a/an and numbers
man, a university with e.g. coffee, tea, beer, etc when we order
these things by the cup or glass in a
We use an before vowel sounds: an apple, restaurant.
an egg, an hour
- Excuse me, waiter. Could we have two
coffees and a tea, please?

We use some before plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Some books, some men
Some rice, some milk

Some nouns can be used as countable or uncountable, with a difference of meaning.

Countable Uncountable

a glass
https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/e248f9bb-5a6f-48bc- glass (the material)
b62b-ad487e8c243f_1.d03259ff5bd0d122072 https://s-media-cache-
cd6f8eda2c3cf.jpeg ak0.pinimg.com/originals/7a/d4/60/7ad460e8a44c66327fed474cb30893c1.jpg

2 Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H)

 Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

Countable Uncountable

a hair
her hair (all the hair on her head)

some paper
a paper (a newspaper) (the writing material)
https://5.imimg.com/data5/LE/QS/MY-7927198/cardstock-paper-250x250.png
https://brandcom.vn/bao-thanh-nien

Some nouns are uncountable in English, but countable in other languages. Here are some of
the most common of these uncountable nouns, together with some related countable
expressions.
Uncountable Countable
Accommodation A place to live/stay

Advice A piece of advice

Bread A loaf/slice/piece (of bread)/ a (bread) roll

Furniture A piece of furniture

Information A piece of information

Luggage A piece of luggage; a suitcase/bag

Money A note/coin; a sum (of money)

News A piece of news

Traffic A car/bus/etc

Travel A journey/trip

Work A job; a piece of work

- I’ve just had some news. - I’ve just had a piece of news.

- Where is your luggage? - Where are your suitcases?

- We need some bread. - We need a loaf of bread.

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) 3

Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

III. Plural of nouns

1. Rules of forming plural of regular nouns
Rules Examples
Add “-S” or “-ES” after the singular tables, bicycles, faces, cars, etc.
form of countable nouns.

Nouns ending in “ SH, S, X, Z, CH, potatoes, tomatoes, classes, bushes, watches, etc.
O”, add –ES But: pianos, solos, bamboos, kangaroos,...

Nouns ending in “Y”

• Consonant-Y  C-I-ES city  cities, lady  ladies,...
• Vowel-Y  V-Y-S boys, toys,...

Nouns ending in “F”, or “FE”: half-halves, calf-calves, loaf-loaves, knife-

-F/FE  V-ES. knives, life-lives, leaf-leaves, thief-thieves, self-
selves, shelf-shelves, wife-wives, wolf-wolves
But: roofs, safes, cuffs, proofs

Nouns ending in –US  -I focus-foci/focuses, radius-radii/radiuses,

fungus-fungi, nucleus-nuclei, cactus-cacti,
alumnus-alumni, octopus-octopuses/octopi,
hippopotamus-hippopotami/hippopotamuses

Nouns ending in –IS  -ES analysis-analyses, crisis-crises, thesis-theses,

ellipsis-ellipses,
axis-axes (this is also the plural of ax and axe)

Nouns ending in –ON (derived from phenomenon-phenomena, criterion-criteria

Greek)  -A

Nouns ending in –UM  -A datum-data, bacterium-bacteria,

stratum-strata, memorandum-memoranda,
curriculum-curricula/curriculums

Nouns ending in –A  add -E Vita-vitae, nebula-nebulas/nebulae,

alumna-alumnae

b. Plural form of irregular nouns

man – men tooth – teeth mouse – mice ox – oxen

woman – women foot – feet louse – lice person – people/
child – children goose – geese die – dice persons

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 Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

Note 1
Rules Examples
1. Some nouns are always used Furniture, business, luggage, progress,
singularly. merchandise, asparagus

2. Some nouns have the same form in deer, sheep, poultry, salmon, yoke, cod, trout,
both numbers. means, fish

3. Some nouns (some diseases, games or mumps, measles, physics, politics, electronics,
subjects) are plural in forms but news, mechanics, cards, dominoes, billiards,
singular in meanings. chess

4. Some nouns (things consisting 2 glasses, scissors, pliers, pincers, shears,

similar parts) are used in plural only. kidneys, mittens, shorts

5. Some nouns have 2 plurals, different Brother: brothers (anh em), brethren (anh em đồng
meanings. đạo)
penny: pence (giá trị), pennies (số đồng tiền)

6. Uncountable nouns make their plural 2 spoons of sugar, 3 cups of coffee, 4 glasses
by adding a unit. of orange

7. Compound nouns form their plural by Bookcases, mothers-in-law, lookers-on

adding ‘s’ to the principal word.

Some nouns, singular in form, have a Cattle, police, people

plural meaning and go with a plural
verb.

8. Some nouns may be countable or wood (gỗ) – woods (rừng), sand (cát) – sands (bãi
uncountable depending on different cát, lớp cát, bãi biển), water (nước) – waters (khối nước,
meanings. hải phận), work (công việc) - works (tác phẩm)

Note 2: Pronunciation of final ‘S’, ‘ES’

Pronunciation
Ending Examples
of ‘s’
/f/, /p/, /k/, /t/, /θ/ /s/ roofs, caps, books, boots, months

/t∫/, /∫/, /z/, /s/, /dʒ/, watches, dishes, breezes, boxes, pieces, villages,
/iz/, /əz/
/ʒ/ garages

tubes, beds, dogs, girls, plums, pens, mirrors,

Others /z/
cures, waves, lathes, windows

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) 5

Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

IV. Possessive case

1. Definition: Possessive case is used to show possession.

Example: This is the girl's hat = This is the hat of the girl.

2. Formation: We can make a possessive form by adding ’s or ’ after the noun possessor.
Rules Examples
a. Singular Noun + ’s - The boy’s coat is too long for him.
- Doris’s bicycle is new.
b. Singular Noun with S + ’s
- ass’s head
c. Plural Noun with S ending + ’ - The girls’ books are yellow.
d. Plural Noun without S ending + ’s - The men’s club is around the corner.
e. Compound nouns or Group Names: only - His father-in-law’s property is quite big.
the last word takes the possessive sign. - Charles the Second's reign.
- My brother and your sister’s school has a
f. N and N for common possession: only the
good football team. (My brother and your
last word takes the possessive sign.
sister study in the same school)
g. N and N for separate possession: every - John's and Mary’s bicycle collided at the
noun takes the possessive sign street corner.
h. The possessive noun followed by an - This is my friend Tom’s new house
appositive: add possessive sign to the
appositive only
i. For the sake of euphony, use OF instead - This is my wife’s mother’s opinion.
of ’S - This is the opinion of my wife’s mother.
j. A noun used in the preceding clause is not - I have seen your mother’s photo but not
repeated after the possessive case. your father’s.
k. Nouns denoting house, school, college, - We’ll go to the tailor’s (shop).
church, cathedral, shop, palace, hospital, - They eat at my uncle’s (house).
etc. are often understood. - We’ve visited St. Paul’s (cathedral).
- This is one of my pictures.
This is a picture of mine.
l. Double possession
- That is one of her friends.
That is a friend of hers.

6 Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H)

 Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

3. Uses of Possessive Case

Uses Examples
For persons - He was confused by Mr. Brown’s looking so hard at
him.
For animals - Do you know why the camel’s hump is so big?
- Tom broke his dog’s leg yesterday.
Not for things - The leaves of the bamboos are curled by the heat.
- The walls of that room are painted yellow.
Not with Adjectives used as N - The fate of the blind is miserable.
- The park is the meeting place of the young.
Not with people when there is the address of those people we met in Spain
a long phrase not: those people who we met in Spain’s address
Places and Organizations London’s museums/ the museums of London
The company’s future/the future of the company
Time a vacation of three months/a three months’ vacation
Distance a walk of two miles/a two miles’ walk
Weight a box of ten pounds/a ten pounds’ box
Value a shirt of twelve dollars/a twelve dollars’ shirt
Dignified objects the sun’s energy, the earth’s creatures, Heaven’s will
Personified objects Fortune’s smile, Sorrow’s tears, Duty’s call, The wind’s
hand, The thunder’s roar
In some expressions at one’s wits’ end (bí, vô phương kế), to one’s heart’s content (tùy
thích), for conscience’s sake (vì lương tâm)

V. Functions of nouns

Functions Examples
1. Subject of a verb - The girl is pretty.

2. Object of a verb - I met a pretty girl.

3. Object of a preposition - We talk about this lesson.

- He’s lived here for three years.

4. Subjective complement - I am a teacher.

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) 7

Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

Functions Examples
- Knowledge is power.

5. Objective complement - They elected him the monitor.

- They called Beethoven a musical genius.

6. Appositive - Nguyen Du, a famous poet, wrote “Kieu”.

7. Adjective equivalent - That’s a love story.

8. Adverb equivalent - He works two hours.

GRAMMAR EXERCISES

CLASSIFICATION

Exercise 1: Decide whether the bold words are countable or uncountable nouns. Write C
(countable) or U (uncountable) on the line.

Examples: U Can I give you some advice?

C We could see a ship in the distance.

1. ___ The children are playing in the garden.

2. ___ I don't like milk.

3. ___ I prefer tea.

4. ___ Scientists say that the environment is threatened by pollution.

5. ___ My mother uses butter to prepare cakes.

6. ___ There are a lot of windows in our classroom.

7. ___ We need some glue to fix this vase.

8. ___ The waiters in this restaurant are very professional.

9. ___ My father drinks two big glasses of water every morning.

10. ___ The bread my mother prepares is delicious.

11. ___ Drivers must be careful; the road is slippery.

8 Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H)

 Chapter 1: Parts of speech | Unit 1: Nouns

12. ___ Some policemen are organizing road traffic to avoid any accidents.

13. ___ I bought three bottles of mineral water for our picnic.

14. ___ I'd like some juice please!

15. ___ Successful candidates will join the camp later this year.

16. ___ A rise in oil prices is inevitable since there is more and more world demand for
energy.

17. ___ The exercises on this website are interesting.

18. ___ Dehydrated babies must drink a lot of water.

19. ___ Adult illiterates learn through a special government program.

20. ___ I met some nice people when I was walking along the beach.

PLURAL OF NOUNS

Exercise 2: Changes these nouns into plural forms.

Example: bottle → bottles

1. Table → _______________ 16. City → _______________

2. Cup → _______________ 17. Country → _______________
3. Car → _______________ 18. Boy → _______________
4. Hat → _______________ 19. Key → _______________
5. Chair → _______________ 20. Play → _______________
6. Glass → _______________ 21. Day → _______________
7. Box → _______________ 22. Echo → _______________
8. Watch → _______________ 23. Hero → _______________
9. Wish → _______________ 24. Potato → _______________
10. Buzz → _______________ 25. Tomato → _______________
11. Leaf → _______________ 26. Kangaroo → _______________
12. Knife → _______________ 27. Tattoo → _______________
13. Roof → _______________ 28. Zoo → _______________
14. Chief → _______________ 29. Kilo → _______________
15. Cliff → _______________ 30. Photo → _______________

Intermediate English Grammar (FL101H) 9